Installation for making a borehole in a stratum



Oct. 22, 1957 H. B. FEHLMANN 2,810,547

INSTALLATION FOR MAKING A BOREHOLE IN A STRATUM Filed Feb 24, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.3

INVENTOR ggNS BERT FEHLNRNN ATTO R N EY Oct. 22, 1 957 H. B. FEHLMANN INSTALLATION FOR MAKING A BOREHOLE m A STRATUM Filed Feb. 24, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 lNVENTOR HQ NS BERT FEHLHRNN B ATTORNEY Oct. 22, 1957 H. B. FEHLMANN 2,

INSTALLATION FOR MAKING A BOREHOLE IN A STRATUM Filed Feb. 24, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fig.8 Fig.9

INVENTOR IQNS BERT FEHLHHNN ATTORNEY INST ALLAT ION-FUR MAKING A BOREHOLE AES'ERATUM Hans Beat Fehlmann, Bern, switz'erland assignor to A. G. fur Grundwasserbauten, Bern," Switzerland Application Februaryfl l; 1954, Serial No: 412,344 Claims priority, application GermanyMay 2,1953

.4 Claims. (Cl.'=-255-'1) This inventionrelates totan installation for making a 'borehole in a.subterranean:formation-tor earth'material or any other stratum across. the wall of a casing sunk into-the stratum, as,;for instance, for making water handling. installations for instance :where for instance 1mperforate and/or :perforate'tubes are advanced in'the stratum.

Up. till1now, one 1 or more: hydraulic drive .presses and the control station therefor have beenmounted on a single platform close-to ithecasing floor or on'the casing floor itself. -Because sufiicientspace haclto benavailable on that ,single platform ,or on the'casinggfloor for-the entire equipment, for the wholeoperating; crew andfor economical stroke lengths of the drive presses," boring operations could hitherto only be made in casings with largevdiametersof for instance three meters. :Boring operations. in casings with diameters of the order oftwo meters or less were impossible in an economical manner-with the well-known in- :stallationsin that there was nosufficientspace available lengths of-the presses are just possible.

An object: oftheinvention is to-provide for an-installation in which the advance set of one or morezhydraulic presses and thecontrol station therefor are distributed on two or more superposedplatforms.

Another object of the invention is to distribute on said superposed platforms alsoa clamping device such as one or more hydraulic clamping presses and'the control post therefor.

A further object of the inventionistomake ;said superposed platforms part of a rotatable and up-and-down movable elevator.

Other objects and features will be apparent as the following description proceeds, reference being-had to the accompanying drawings, illustrating by a non-restrictive way of example an embodiment of the invention, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a partially sectional elevation of a portion of the casing and the elevator,

Fig. 2 is an elevation similar to Fig. 1 but in a plane turned by 90.

Fig. 3 is a detail of Fig. 1 on a larger scale.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the drive presses on a'larger scale,

Fig. 5 shows the diagram of the hydraulic control of the drive and the clamping presses.

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view of the casing and a plan view of a mechanical clamping device.

Fig. 7 is a front view of a clutch for coupling the tube to be advanced with the drive presses.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along line VIIIVIII of Fig. 7, and

Fig. 9 a sectionalview taken along line IX-IX of Fig. 7.

tes Patent 'ikkeferringtnoywtb Figs; hand-2a casingl with a dia'me- "ten-of, the order oflt.5z1meters is-sunlcfinto a-subterranean formationror:earthnmaterial orrrany other 'stratum and comprises one: iorrimorer orifices 2 lying ou the A same or diflerent :levelsv above: the-casing fioor= .(not shown) 'The orifice 2-is traversedhy =an impei'forate orperforatetube 3. which is to bevadvancedin'the-stratumbycmeans oflhe installationaccordingato the. invention. "A'n r-ironor' steel 1 riser conduit.4thavingaa valve 5 fextends downwa'rdlyxto a 10 pump (notshown) :for: instance :a borehole pump ?-for delivering to the-.tiop' the liquid such. as water, oil or. the like originating from "they'stratumand 'being' collected-in the casing 1. The upperend ofsthe riser 4 is connected witha-fiexible conduit :(not showny'leading to :the top. :An upper platform 6sis fixed to ther-riser'r4 for instance by means of.a clampingedeviceasuch as-a; pipe clamp: or the like. At a distancefromther upper platformfiiailower platform 7 is mounted on the riser-=4 by meansiof a-ipipe :clamp 8. :The releasable clamps allows changinglthedis- 20- tance between theplatforms 6f-and 7 if desired. Riser- 4 and platforms -6 and 7 form together a rotatable, up-andbe connected with each oth'er l-by -another connecting :means .than'the riser'4. .-Above the valve. 5 a shelter 9'iis fixed; to .the riserA. :Referring to Fig. 2, at the-side. away fromthe riser- 4- (-Fig. -2)- a lift 11 for people and material runs along a rail 10,-1this li-ftbeir 1g=ot;special:"advantage when workingin deep-casings "having a depth of for .in-

- stance hundred r-netersand more.

.Referring particularlyto Figs. 3 and-40f the drawings, two hydraulic drive presses 12 connected in parallel to each otherare mounted on the -lower platform 7,the, pis

tons "13 of which are connected -witheach "other by means of a coupling clutch 'With the exception ofFig's. 7 to 9 this combination of drive pressesand a coupling clutch-is described and illustrated inU. S. Patent No.2,- 687,281, (filed -November 7, 1950. 7 During an advance stroke thetube 3tobewadvanced in'the stratum isautomaticall y .clam'ped'fast to the coupling clutch'14 and is released from the clutch -M-duringtheidle return stroke of thepresses .12.

Beneath the-drive presses-12 two clamping presses 16 connected inparallel to eachother are suspended on the lower platform 7 by means of straps 1 5 (Fig. 3). Clamping shoes =18 (Figs. 3 and 4) rotatable aboutspins 17- are fixed to theframe ofrthe clamping presses 1=6 by means of perforate plates 19 in a man-nerto be adjustable in the-direction of the stroke of-"the pressejs 16. That adjustab'ility of the clamping shoes 18 allows theclamping device to be adapted to casings of diiferent diameters. -T he outer end of the plStOnrZO of eachclamping press 16 carries a ball 21 forming aballjoint with-a clamping shoe 22 mounted on the ball21. Ref erring-to Fig. 4', the clamping'shoes 22 of-both presses 16 are connected with each other-by a guide .rod.23 articulatedto the shoes so that appropriate contact ofbothclamping shoes 22 with the inner wall surface of the casing 1 is guaranteed. 7

Referring to Figs. 1 and.2,Ta-:ladder-24 leads from the lower platform 7 to the upperplatform-6. "A control board 26 fixed to the balustrade orrailing=25--of-the upper platform-6 comprises controllevers27 and 28-and valves 29and 30for the drive presses 12 andthe-clamping presses 16 respectively. .As' especially seen in' the diagram of Fig. 5, flexible co nd-uits 31,32 and- 33;34

lead from the valves 29and 30 respectivelyto the presses 12and'16 respectively. --A flexibileconduit .-35exterids to the control board 26 from a deliverypump :36. pr ovided aboveground and fed by -an oil tank'37 --likewise disposed abovegroundKFig. 5).] The valve 5-.(-Fig'.-l)

As shown in the drawings and described above, the

. various parts of the equipment are distributed in such a way on two superposed platforms 6, 7 of an elevator that the lower platform 7 carries the drive presses 12 and the clamping presses 16, the upper platform 6, however, the control station and post for'these two press sets.

The control operations will now be described with reference to Fig. 5. After the elevator 4, 6, 7 has been lowered in the casing 1 by means of the crane (not shown) to the desired level and after the elevator has, it necessary, been rotated by means of the crane until the axis of the clutch 14 coincides with the axis of the orifice 2, the control lever 28 is moved from its middle position to the right-hand division of the graduation 47 (position in Fig. 5) while the control lever 27 for the drive presses 12 remains in the middle out of operation position. In this control position the pump 36 delivers pressure medium (e. g. oil, water) through the conduit 35 (whose pressure-reducing valve 38 is connected to a return conduit 39 leading to the oil tank 37), further through the valve 29, the conduit 40, the valve 30 and through the conduit 33 to the left-hand cylinder space of the clamping presses 16 so that the pistons 20 press the clamping shoes 22 and therewith the shoes 18 onto the inner wall surface of the casing 1 whereby the elevator 4, 6, 7 is clamped fast on the casing in the desired position. During this clamping stroke of the presses 16 oil flows from the right-hand cylinder space through the conduit 34, the valve 30 and the conduit 58 to the tank 37. A cylinder 45 is inserted in the conduit 33 and comprises a piston 43 loaded by a spring 42 to guarantee the maintenance of the pressure in the conduit 33. The oil pressure in the cylinder 45 below the piston 43 can be read on the pressure gage 44 and may for instance amount to 300 atmospheres.

After the elevator 4, 6, 7 having been clamped fast to the casing wall in the above-described manner, the shutofif valve 46 of the conduit 33 is closed and afterwards the control lever 28 is brought in line with the middle division of the graduation 47 in Fig. 5. Now, admission from valve 30 to conduit 33 is interrupted and the presses 16 are thereby secured in the clamping position. When the tube 3 is now to be advanced in the stratum, lever 27 is moved to the right-hand division of the graduation 48. Now, the pressure medium flows from the pump 36 through the conduit 35, the valve 29 and the conduit 31 to the left-hand cylinder space of the drive presses 12 so that the pistons 13 move the coupling clutch 14 with the tube 3 clamped fast to the latter towards the right in Figs. 1 and 4, whereby the tube 3 is advanced in the stratum. During this advance stroke pressure medium exhausted from the right of cylinder 12 flows through conduit 32, valve 29, conduit 40, valve 30 and conduit 58 to the tank 37. The advance stroke having been completed the control lever 27 is returned to the middle division of the graduation 48 whereby admission of pressure medium to the drive presses 12 is interrupted. After having released the clutch 14 from the tube 3 for instance in the manner described in the above-mentioned Patent No. 2,687,281, the control lever 27is moved to the lefthand division of graduation 48, that is, to the return position for the drive presses 12. The pressure medium now flows from the conduit 35 through valve 29 and conduit 32 to the right-hand cylinder space of the drive presses 12, while medium returns from the left-hand cylinder space through the conduit 31, valve 29, conduit 40,

valve 30 and conduit 58 to the tank 37. Therefore, the pistons 13 of the drive presses 12 move towards the left in Figs. 4 and 5 and take the clutch 14 with them along the tube 3, which remains now at rest, to the initial position for a further advance stroke. "For this further advance stroke, the control lever 27 is again moved to the right-hand division of the graduation 48 so that the pistons of the drive presses 12 together with the clutch 14 move again towards the right and the clutch 14 is again automatically clamped fast to the tube 13, as described in the above-mentioned Patent No. 2,687,281. After the advance of the tube 3 having been completed changes as described later on with reference to Figs. 7 to 9 are made on the clutch 14 and, afterwards and if desired, the tube 3 can be withdrawn in the same manner as it has previously been advanced, while the clutch 14 now clamps in the return direction.

When the elevator 4, 6, 7 must be rotated and/or lifted or lowered in order to advance a tube through another orifice 2 of the casing 1, the clamping action of the presses 16 must at first be interrupted. For that purpose the control lever 28 is moved from its middle position to the left-hand division of the graduation 47 and afterwards the valve 46 is opened. In that position pressure medium flows from the valve through the conduit 34 to the right-hand cylinder space of the clamping presses 16 and moves the pistons 20 to the left in Fig. 5, while oil returns from the left-hand cylinder space through the conduit 33, the valve 30 and the conduit 58 to the tank 37. The clamping pressure between the shoes 18, 22 and the casing wall is thereby done away with and the lever 28 is returned to its middle position. The elevator can now be moved.

The construction of the valves 29 and 30 does not necessitate further explanation in that it is quite comprehensible to a man skilled in the art when he follows the above description of the control operations. It is only to be mentioned that the supply of pressure medium from the conduit to the valve 30 is in no position of the lever 27 interrupted by the valve 29.

The presses 12 are connected in parallel to each other and it is the same for the presses 16. Though the diagram of Fig. 5 is shown for only one press 12 and only one press 16, no fundamental change is to be made in that diagram for presses connected in parallel. The difference resides only in the fact that the conduits 31, 32, 33 and 34 are each divided into two branches before entering the presses 12 and 16.

The two clamping presses 16 may however also be arranged in a manner to be controllable independent from each other.

Fig. 6 shows a mechanically controlled clamping device so that clarnping presses are omitted. Clamping shoes 50 are articulated to the lower platform 7 by means of pins 49. Screw nuts 51 of the shoes 50 engage rotatable threaded spindles 52 articulated to the platform 7. By rotating the spindles 52 in the one or the other direction for instance by means of wrenches or levers the clamping shoes 50 can be swung about the pins 49 in order to clamp fast the elevator or to release it.

Each of the platforms may also be separately rotatable and movable in axial direction and separately fixable (by clamping, for instance) to the casing wall, while the platforms may either be suspended separately or commonly on a lifting equipment such as a crane for instance. Each of these separately adjustable platforms may for instance have a clamping device as shown in Figs. 1 to 4 or 6. Also in the case of separately movable platforms the hydraulic clamping presses of each or of all platforms may-be controllable separately or commonly.

While the manner of operation of the coupling clutch shown in Figs. 7 to 9 is principally the same as of the clutch shown and described in the above-mentioned U. 8. Patent No. 2,687,281 it is distinguished from the latter in that it is double-acting. While the clutch of Patent No. 2,687,281 must be turned by 180 when changing from the advance to the return movement of the clutch, such turning of the novel clutch of Figs. 7 to 9 is not necessary. My novel clutch has either an exchangeable double series or two double series of transmission balls 53 and 54 respectively, the ones for the advance and the others for the return movement of the tube 3. While the balls 53 in Fig. 8 lie in two channels 55 inclined from the top on the left to the bottom on the right and formed by the member 59 fixed to the pistons of the drive presses 12 and by the member 60 movable relatively to member 59, the balls 54 of the other series (Fig. 9) are arranged in two reversely inclined channels 56 also formed by the members 59 and 60. For the advance of the tube 3 the balls are removed from the return channels in that the corresponding stop plates 57 for these balls are unscrewed so that the balls can escape. The balls in the advance channels can then work by their elastical compressibility in the same way as described in the above-mentioned U. S. Patent No. 2,687,281. For return movement the balls are removed from the advance channels and these or other balls are inserted in the return channels.

The above described novel clutch is especially well suited in casings with small diameters Mere turning the clutch by 180 is very difiicult owing to the small space available.

Many changes may be made in the described installation while retaining its features and operating principles.

I claim:

1. In an installation for making a. borehole in a stratum, a casing sunk into the stratum, a radial orifice in the wall of said casing, a boring tube traversing said orifice and movable outwardly therefrom, a rotatable and up-and-down movable supporting structure in said casing including a riser conduit and two superposed platforms mounted on said riser conduit at a distance from each other, two hydraulic advance presses mounted on the lower of said platforms, a coupling clutch for connecting said boring tube with said hydraulic advance presses, control means for actuating said hydraulic advance presses provided on the upper of said platforms, two hydraulic clamping presses mounted on the lower of said platforms, clamping shoes swingingly connected with said clamping presses and adapted to be pressed against the wall of said casing, and control means for actuating said clamping presses provided on the upper of said platforms.

2. In an installation for making a borehole in a stratum, a casing sunk into the stratum, a radial orifice in the wall of said casing, a boring tube traversing said orifice and movable outwardly therefrom, a rotatable and up-and-down movable supporting structure in said casing including a riser conduit and two superposed platforms mounted on said riser conduit, hydraulic advance means mounted on the lower of said platforms, a coupling clutch for connecting said boring tube with said hydraulic advance means, control means for actuating said hydraulic advance means provided on the upper of said platforms, hydraulic clamping means mounted on the lower of said platforms including a clamp swingingly connected with said hydraulic clamping means adapted to be hydraulically pressed against the wall of said casing, and control means for actuating said hydraulic clamping means provided on the upper of said platforms.

3. In an installation for making a borehole in a stratum, a casing sunk into the stratum, a radial orifice in the wall of said casing, a boring tube traversing said orifice and movable outwardly therefrom, a rotatable elevator axially adjustable in said casing including two superposed platforms, hydraulic advance means mounted on the lower of said platforms, coupling means for connecting said boring tube with said hydraulic advance means, control means for actuating said hydraulic advance means provided on the upper of said platforms, hydraulic clamping means mounted on the lower of said platforms including a clamp adapted to be hydraulically pressed against the wall of said casing, and control means for actuating said hydraulic clamping means provided on the upper of said platforms.

4. In an installation for making a borehole in a stratum, a casing sunk into the stratum, an orifice in the wall of said casing, a boring means traversing said orifice and movable outwardly therefrom, an elevator axially adjustable in said casing including two superposed platforms, advance means mounted on the lower of said platforms, coupling means for connecting said boring means with said advance means, control means for actuating said advance means provided for the upper of said platforms, clamping means mounted on the lower of said platforms including a clamp adapted to be pressed against the wall of said casing, and control means for actuating said clamping means provided for the upper of said platforms.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 65,801 Elliot June 18, 1867 140,173: Thomas et al. June 24, 1873 1,179,491 Ammon Apr. 18, 1916 2,143,848 Gilman Ian. 17, 1939 2,274,431 Renner Feb. 24, 1942 2,383,496 Nebolsine Aug. 28, 1945 2,397,755 Schwab Apr. 2, 1946 2,419,711 Dillon Apr. 29, 1947 2,570,039 Stone Oct. 2, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 545,319 France Oct. 10, 1922 

